the train was traveling at approximately 82 miles per hour as it went into a 30-mile-per-hour curve. >> federal investigators say the commuter train that ran off the tracks in new york city was traveling at a high rate of speed moments before the deadly derailment. now, the investigation focuses on the engineer who was at the controls. llions of americans get ready for an early dose of winter. a cold front threatening to send temperatures nearly 50 degrees below normal in some parts of the country. and amazon makes a big announcement. it hopes to have drones make deliveries, but what will it take to get the program off the ground? this is the "cbs morning news" ground? this is the "cbs morning news" for tuesday, december 3rd, 2013. captioning funded by cbs

good morning, it's good to be with you. i'm anne-marie green. it's still unclear why, but federal investigators have determined that the new york commuter train was going way too fast when it jumped the track sunday morning. here's the latest. the metro north train's data recorder showed that the train was going 80 miles per hour when it entered the curve where the posted speed is 30 miles an hour. it's still unclear whether it was mechanical or human error. the train's engineer has been tested for drugs and alcohol. and his cell phone is also being examined. this video released by new york city shows how devastating the crash was. four people were killed. and over 60 others injured. and this is part of the initial fire department emergency call. >> we have approximately five cars stranded. the train is on its side. we have multiple people trapped. >> ko im has more on the investigation from the crash site.

>> reporter: federal authorities say this metro north commuter train was rolling at almost three times the speed limit when it left the track sunday morning killing four people. >> preliminary information from the event recorders shows that the train was traveling at approximately 82 miles per hour as it went into a 30-mile-per-hour curve. >> reporter: the train was passing into a 70-mile-per-hour zone and entered into a 30-mile-per-hour curve. the throttle was cut just six seconds before the train came to a complete stop. likely after the train had started to derail. the brakes were fully applied one second later. >> so it was only six seconds before everything came to a stop that the throttle went to idle. >> this was late in the game? >> very late in the game. >> reporter: the train's engineer william rockefeller jr. told first responders the brake did not work properly. so far, there's no evidence to back that up. >> this train made nine stops

prior to derailing. at this point, we're not aware of any problems through the brakes. >> reporter: the seven train cars were placed back on the track and have been removed from the scene. investigators will continue to examine them over the next few days. >> whether the crash here occurred here because of human error or equipment malfunction, that train was going way too fast. >> reporter: the investigation is expected to take weeks or months. ko im for cbs news, the bronx, new york. investigators say the pilot of a helicopter that crashed into a glasgow pub did not radio about any emergency before friday's crash. the helicopter was removed from the pub's roof yesterday. nine people were killed including six on the ground. 12 people are still hospitalized. there was no flight data recorder on the helicopter, and so far, the cause of the crash remains a mystery. the overhauled federal

health care website is facing an expected year-end crunch as uninsured americans rush to sign up. yesterday, officials had to limit access to the healthcare.gov site when signs of problems popped up again. today, the president will address the troubled website and his health care initiative. susan mcginnis is in washington. susan, good morning. >> anne-marie, good morning. you can expect the president today to hype this newly revamped website, try to get the pubic's attention away from the site toward health care itself. this after the new healthcare.gov got its first big test on monday. >> everybody please have a seat. >> reporter: president obama will talk about the benefits of the affordable care act today at the white house and will highlight the improvements made to healthcare.gov. the troubled website that just underwent a major overhaul. >> they're really trying to say to the american people give us another chance, give the website another chance. >> reporter: 750,000 users logged on by early last night. about double the traffic for a typical monday. the white house promised the

revamped website could handle 50,000 users at a time. but when it reached about 35,000, a new queueing system kicked in putting thousands of people including june miles-mays into a virtual waiting room. >> very frustrating. because i need insurance so badly and it seems like something in the system or something is not working. >> reporter: the white house says the system works. the website did not crash. >> that is why we built that queueing system. so that we would improve the experience of those users who visited the site over what they experienced back in october. >> reporter: visits to the site are expected to skyrocket has december 23rd nears. that's the deadline for americans to buy insurance to ensure coverage at the start of the new year. now today is apparently the first day of a three-week push by the white house to push this affordable care act. the president will be pushing a different benefit of the affordable care law each day, up to that december 23rd deadline.

anne-marie. >> susan mcginnis in washington. thank you, susan. well, vice president biden starts his visit to asia amid a territorial dispute between japan and china. he meets with the japanese prime minister today. biden arrived in tokyo yesterday and was greeted by the new ambassador to japan caroline kennedy. biden says the u.s. is deeply concerned about china's just established air defense zone. it covers a group of islands claimed by japan. biden travels to china tomorrow. and a strong winter-like time packing heavy snow and arctic temperatures is making its way south and east this morning. the northern plains is already seeing the effects. winter weather warnings and advisories are posted from montana to wisconsin this morning. eric fisher, chief meteorologist at our boston station wbz is following the storm. >> a big story this week, the

storm that starts in the midwest is on its way to the rest of the country today. this is where the cold is on the move pretty quickly. we head toward midweek and dipping down across california down into the four corners region in the upper midwest. by the end of the week, it's spill across the plains. event valley by friday, some of those spots 20 to 30 degrees below average for this time of year. so wednesday, these are approximate high temperatures in the afternoon. single digits that cold air pours into denver and salt lake city. some subzero high temperatures are possible across montana on wednesday. by thursday, reaching single digits in minneapolis, subzero in fargo, 20s and diving down across denver into oklahoma city. and then friday, a sharp line, you see it all the way to the west coast right to the appalachians and the only spot will be the southeast. then we talk about the snowfall. lots of it coming down in the next 24 hours. in western colorado, 12 to 18, in the highest peaks could see 3 feet of total snow.

good news for the ski areas. minneapolis reaching northern parts of wisconsin could see 6 to 12 inches with another piece of energy moving through there. then as we get late in the week, dallas, reaching up towards tulsa, little rock and in southern parts of missouri, could be talking about freezing rain and sleet. and included with snowfall, maybe as much as 4 to 8 inches. winter showing itself in a big way during his first week of december. i'm meteorologist eric fisher for cbs news. coming up on the "cbs morning news" actor paul walker's final moments. surveillance video shows the fiery crash that claimed his life while a co-star pays tribute to a "fast & furious" star. ♪ hey, that's the last crescent! oh, did you want it? yeah. we'll split it. [ female announcer ] made fresh, so light, buttery and flakey. that's half. that's not half!

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saturday. he thanked fans who gathered in a neighborhood where the crash happened. police say the area where walker and a friend were riding is popular with street racers. the drive forms a one-mile loop amid office parks and attracts little traffic during the weekend. as teresa garcia reports, walker's final crash was caught on tape. >> reporter: this sped-up surveillance video obtained by omg insider shows the crash and then the explosion that created a huge plume of smoke and fire on saturday. the crash killed paul walker and the driver professional car racer roger rodas. the actor was at a fund-raiser near los angeles for victims of the recent philippines typhoon when he decided to go for a ride in his friend's porsche carrara gt. authorities say speed was a factor but they don't think they were racing. jim torp saw the pair before they took off.

>> i know for a fact they weren't drag racing. >> reporter: production on the seventh installment is now delayed because of walker's death. fans continue to pay their respects at a makeshift memorial set up at the crash site leaving behind candles and memorabilia. walker's father talked to reporters outside of his home. >> i'm glad to say we had a great, great talk about how he wanted to spend more time with his daughter meadow. >> reporter: investigators say they have yet to determine how fast the car was going when walker and his friend crashed. teresa garcia, "cbs morning news." on the "cbs moneywatch," the days may be numbered for tax-free web shopping. and why you want to check your lottery tickets. wendy gillette has more. >> good morning, anne-marie. the cost of online shopping may be headed up as more states could start collecting sales taxes on internet purchases. this after the supreme court refused to get involved in state efforts to force online

retailers to collect sales taxes from their customers. the case involved a lower court ruling in new york. it ruled that websites like amazon and overstock must pay sales tax the same way in-state businesses do. the supreme court decision came on what appears to be the busiest online shopping day of the year, cyber monday. early indications are that online sales yesterday were up 17.5% from last year. mobile devices accounted for nearly a third of all online shopping. stocks in asia finished mostly lower amid key reports in the u.s. hong kong's hang seng's lost 0.5%. tokyo's nikkei gained 0.5% to its highest close in six years thanks to a weekend yen. the dow jones lost 77 points yesterday. the nasdaq composite finished the day down 13 points. and, anne-marie, in florida, a winning lottery ticket worth $1.3 million is about to expire in two weeks. the mega money ticket was bought

in a miami store for the lottery drawing back on june 19th. the winning numbers are 10, 28, 34, 43 and mega ball 19. that ticket expires december 15th. that would never happen to me. i'm so neurotic, i check them three times to make sure i didn't win. >> all i'm thinking, i have family in miami, and someone needs to check that pair of jeans they haven't worn since june or whenever. wendy gillette at the new york stock exchange, thank you very much, wendy. straight ahead in sports, the seattle seahawks send a monday night message to the rest of the nfl. and later, what will it take for amazon to get its drone delivery system off the ground? this is the "cbs morning news." for amazon to get its drone delivery system off the ground? this is the "cbs morning news."

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so you can feel free to add it to anything. and feel better about doing it. better it with benefiber. here's a look at today's forecast in some cities around the country. new york will be cloudy today with a high of 51 degrees. miami, nothing but sunshine, but cloudy in chicago. dallas, sunny as well. and los angeles, some sun with a high of 64. in sports now, the best record in the nfc on the line on "monday night football." 10-1 seattle hosting 9-2 new orleans. and when you're on a roll like the seahawks, things just seem to go your way. russell wilson pats kellen davis in the helmet and the ball lands in derrick coleman's hands. beautiful. seattle wince and seattle becomes the first team to clinch a playoff spot. denver's john fox is back on the job four weeks after

undergoing heart surgery. fox knew about his heart condition but was planning on surgery in the off-season but he was thinking about it while golfing. >> i think when i was laying on the 14th green i did say a short prayer, god, you get me out of this, i'll get it fixed now. that's kind of the way it went. >> fox will coach broncos this week in their game against tennessee. denver went 3-1 in his absence. and in college basketball uconn's shabazz napier sent his home crowd into a frenzy. the huskies trailing florida by a point in the final seconds. >> five seconds to go. lost the dribble. leans in. that's no good. napier, he got it! >> napier's teammates and fans swarm in as he runs down the tunnels for the locker room after hitting the buzzer beater. uconn wins 65-64. when we return, drone deliveries.

a look at the talented air drop space as companies race to develop this speed delivery system. [ bells dinging ] ♪ hark how the bells, sweet silver bells ♪ ♪ all seem to say throw care away ♪ ♪ from everywhere, filling the air ♪ [ female announcer ] chex party mix. easy 15-minute homemade recipes you just pop in a microwave. like caramel chocolate drizzles. happier holidays. chex party mix. it's eb. want to give your family the very best in taste, freshness, and nutrition? it's eb. eggland's best.

better taste. better nutrition. better eggs. it's eb. what's being done this morng to protect the most vulnera police are closing in on the man suspected of tossing a woman's cats into the bay. how investigators finally identified him. and if you went online shop for cyber monday, you may o more than you think. we'll explain why. join us for kpix 5 news this ,,

here's a look at today's forecast in some cities around the country. washington, d.c. will be partly sunny today. atlanta will be cloudy and clouds in st. louis as well. denver can expect snow with a high of 39. seattle, sunshine. a university of alabama football fan is accused of murder. and it may be over her team's dramatic loss to rival auburn. 28-year-old adrian briskey is charged with fatally shooting 36-year-old michelle shepard at a party near birmingham on saturday. police say both women are crimson tide fans. they are investigating witness accounts but briskey became enraged when the victim joked about alabama's last second loss on a 100-yard return of a missed field goal.

on sunday "60 minutes" broke the story about amazon's plan to use drones to deliver packages. whether that program will fly depends on the faa. as mark strassmann reports first first the agency must answer concerns about safety, security and privacy. >> reporter: this is the air drop technology amazon calls prime air. ceo jeff bezos told charlie rose on "60 minutes" he hopes it will deliver packages under five pounds faster than a pizza. >> these are effectively drones there's no reason they can't be used as delivery vehicles. >> reporter: bezos said a fleet of self-guided drones is still years away. >> i know it can't be before 2015 because that's the earliest that we can get the rules from the faa. my guess is that's -- that's probably a little optimistic. >> reporter: the federal aviation administration is still working on how much drones can safely operate below 10,000 feet, america's most congested airspace. for now, only law enforcement and research institutes qualify for the faa's drone permits.

but over the next year, the agency will test the viability of commercial drones in six pilot areas. teams in 24 states have submitted applications to participate. including adaptive flight in marietta, georgia, which has developed four drone models. eric johnson is the co-founder. he's sympathetic to the challenge the faa faces trying trying to regulate this emerging market. >> when you don't even know how they're going to be operated, what size the vehicles are, what the size will be, what they're doing, it's much more difficult to come with. >> reporter: laura wise the lab chief scientist at the georgia tech research institute says the drone's technology has raised far ahead of current faa oversight. >> it's happening, it's moving forward anyway. i think the companies will line it up. regardless of what happens with the faa decision, things are going to happen. >> reporter: the faa's administrator predicts 7500 drones could be flying in the next five years. mark strassmann, cbs news, atlanta.

coming up after your local news on "cbs this morning," new fertility guidelines to reduce the rate of multiple births. i'm anne-marie green. this is the "cbs morning news." milk... cream... sugar... ♪ ...and a touch of flavor. ♪ simply put, it's everything you need for a delicious cup of coffee. coffee-mate natural bliss. coffee's perfect mate. naturally. nestle. good food, good life. mom swaps one of my snacks for a yoplait. i don't mind, i mean it's orange crème. and when mom said bobby was too edgy... 'sup girl. i just swapped him out for tyler. 'sup girl. mom never questioned bobby again. two can play at this game.

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"just singin' singin' in the rain ♪ some very famous hollywood threads are up for auction. the gray wool suit gene kelly wore in the "singin' in the rain" scene you see right there goes on sale friday. it's expected to fetch more than $20,000 at auction in dallas. the collector bought the suit at an mgm prop sale in 1970 for $10. pretty good investment. a math teacher at penn state university is getting attention for more than just academic work. he also happens to be on the football team. jim axelrod introduces us to the nfl prospect. >> go! >> reporter: strictly by the

numbers 6'3", 300 pounds, first team all big ten. penn state offensive lineman john urschel is exceptional. >> xy squared -- vaeld from y equals x. >> reporter: but it's another set of numbers that elevate him to unique in college football. >> this goes off the integral from zero to two. >> reporter: urschel graduated with a degree of mathematics in just three years and a perfect 4.0 gpa. he then finished one masters degree is now working on. a second. and as as many academic publications to his name as. >> i wouldn't say it's uncommon among athletes. it's uncommon among students. i'm 22 and i have four papers. >> reporter: urschel can make quick decisions. mostly head coach bill o'brien marvels at a player who writes on instabilities in the sun jupiter's asteroid three-body

problem, but sometimes, o'brien just laughs. >> if you give him the percentage of how many times the team blitzes, he wants to know the whole survey size and what games we looked at. and i'm like, john, take it from us, they blitz a lot. >> reporter: urschel is just what the doctor ordered for penn state whose image was pummeled by the jerry sandusky child sex abuse scandal. do you feel you have a responsibility to polish up the image of the university? >> absolutely. i've really taken joy in being able to show people some of the great things penn staters are doing. and that's something that i take very seriously. >> reporter: john urschel plans to try the nfl then tackle a ph.d.. >> people look at me and they say that there are these two almost completely separate aspects of myself. but honestly, i'd say they all fit under the same letterhead of

just heart work, dedication and just a drive to be the best at what i do. >> finish up what you're writing. >> reporter: not a bad foundation, whatever the field he's in or on. jim axelrod, cbs news, state college, pennsylvania. coming up after your local news on "cbs this morning," a live update on vice president joe biden's trip to asia, as he meets with the japanese prime minister today. that's the "cbs morning news" for this tuesday. i'm anne-marie green. have a great day. ,,,,